


hurry down the chimney tonight

by carissima



Series: santa baby [8]
Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Bad Pick-Up Lines, Bad Puns, Christmas, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-09-17 14:11:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16976061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carissima/pseuds/carissima
Summary: “Oh,” Mitch says, like he’s surprised to find him there. “Are you Santa?” he asks, which is possibly the dumbest question Auston’s ever heard when he’s sitting in a fucking grotto, fairy lights twinkling all around him and he’s wearing a red velvet suit, a fake white beard and tiny glasses perched on the end of his nose. Mitch is staring at him though, leaning against the door and clearly doing his best to look as casual as possible. “Because I’d sit in your lap.”





	hurry down the chimney tonight

**Author's Note:**

> this one isn't a gift for anyone, or i suppose it's a gift to myself? mitch making bad christmas puns to woo auston was irresistible though.
> 
> thank you to @beegreeny for the beta as always and @eberbae for doing a canadian-pick for me!
> 
> ____
> 
> so i guess i should state here that a lot of hand-waving is required for this fic. like, so much. auston clearly works in a fancy schmancy place here, and i used the word grotto because that's what European's call it. and that's just the start of the hand-wavy stuff. just like, go with it? seriously, i only wrote it for mitch "bad pun" marner.

Pretending to be Santa Claus for a few hours every Saturday, Wednesday afternoon and Friday morning for three weeks isn’t Auston’s idea of a great job, but the pay is good, the hours are perfect to fit around his college workload and making kids smile isn’t a terrible way to earn some money.

The suit itches a little, and the padding he has to wear is kind of ridiculous but the lady who hired him took one look at his physique and sighed, so he puts it on and tries not to complain. The Santa suit was clearly made for someone a few inches shorter than he is, but he wears boots anyway so it’s not totally tragic or anything. Anyway, he needs the money for college and he decided not to go home this year and see his family, so he spent a whole load of money he didn’t have on gifts to send home so his bank account is kind of dead.

“Ho, ho, ho,” he says in a deep voice when the next kid comes in with his dad, a cute little redhead with a flushed red face and possibly on the verge of tears. Auston’s kind of used to that reaction now - it had scared the shit out of him the first time it happened, but he’s a seasoned veteran of two shifts now and it barely fazes him. Excitement, he decides, pasting on his best child-friendly smile beneath the terrible beard they make him wear. “Hello, what’s your name?”

Eventually she relents to tell him that her name is Lucy and she wants a pair of ice skates for Christmas. A quick glance at dad, who nods enthusiastically, and Auston tells her that Santa will try his best. Then he hands her a wrapped present - probably one of the soft toys that they sell in the kids department downstairs - and it’s on to the next child.

He’s got twenty minutes before his break when Kappy, the elf who usually brings the children in for Auston, leans his head around the door.

“Hey, I’m taking off so Mitch is gonna be taking over for the rest of the morning,” he says, sounding bored. “That cool?”

Auston shrugs. He doesn’t really know most of the elves yet but whatever. An elf is an elf. He’s just counting down the next thirty minutes until his break.

Two minutes later, Mitch appears in the doorway. He’s dressed in blue and white, a pointy hat on his head with a bell that jingles whenever he moves. Mitch also looks to be about sixteen, with a wide smiling mouth and weirdly intense eyes, that are currently focused on Auston.

“Oh,” Mitch says, like he’s surprised to find him there. “Are you Santa?” he asks, which is possibly the dumbest question Auston’s ever heard when he’s sitting in a fucking grotto, fairy lights twinkling all around him and he’s wearing a red velvet suit, a fake white beard and tiny glasses perched on the end of his nose. Mitch is staring at him though, leaning against the door and clearly doing his best to look as casual as possible. “Because I’d sit in your lap.”

Auston snorts, he honestly can’t help it because this kid is seriously putting the moves on Santa Claus. There’s no way he knows what Auston looks like and he’s definitely never seen this kid before in his life. “Lame,” Auston says, quirking his eyebrow at Mitch the Elf. “Where’s the next kid?”

Mitch grins at him, disappears for a few seconds and then walks back inside with two little boys and a harried looking mom. Auston gives her a warm smile - he’s seen that look on his own mom’s face too many times - and focuses on the boys, completely ignoring Mitch the Elf as he listens to them talk over each other in their excitement to tell him exactly what they want for Christmas.

*

“Hey, Aus,” Willy greets him when he walks into the staff break room. Willy’s one of the elves that take the children around the grotto before they reach Auston - he works Saturdays and Fridays too, so they’re kind of work buddies already - he’s dressed in yellow and red, and with his blonde hair and pretty face, it totally works for him. “Come sit here with me and Mitch.”

Right now, Auston’s running on two cups of bad coffee, three hours sleep and he’s got a final to study for on Tuesday. He’s really fucking tired. “Uh,” he says, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

“You’re so grumpy,” Willy says in delight and pokes him in his soft, padded belly. “C’mon Santa, cheer up. You’ve met Mitch, right?”

“Yeah, hey,” Auston offers flatly. He’s had three kids try to rip his beard off this morning, born witness to five tantrums, including one kid who spat at him, and he definitely heard the last kid who came in before his break call him an asshole when he opened his present and then dropped it on the floor in disgust. And Mitch had cheerily dealt with it all, a huge grin on his face like this was the best job ever, and Auston hasn’t got the energy to deal with someone like that, like, at all.

“First year, huh?” Mitch says to him, not seeming to take the hint that Auston’s not interested in conversation. “It’s my second, same as Willy. Pretty cool job, huh?”

Auston stares at him. Mitch is beaming back at him, clearly excited to be here on a Friday morning and way too chirpy for Auston’s liking.

“I guess,” Auston says. “I’m just gonna go grab a soda from the machine.”

He drags out choosing a soda for a whole five minutes, scrolling through instagram on his phone. When he finally picks one, he stays next to the machine, leaning against the wall and tells himself that he’s just taking a well-earned break, including one from overly-cheerful elves.

“So Willy says you’re kinda moody.” Auston looks up to find Mitch standing next to him, feeding his money into the machine and choosing a Mountain Dew, which is the worst of all drinks, in Auston’s opinion. Mitch takes the drink and looks over at him with a cheery grin. “You’re good at faking it for the kids.”

Auston raises an eyebrow but it’s wasted on Mitch, because he’s out of the door already.

When Auston finally stomps back through to the break room, it’s just Willy sitting there, grinning widely at him as he chews obnoxiously on some grapes. “I’m not moody,” Auston snaps at him, pulling his beard down and hooking it under his chin.

Willy’s grin widens. “Sure you’re not,” he says consolingly. “An absolute ray of sunshine, that’s you, Aus.”

Auston picks up one of his grapes and throws it at Willy’s face. Willy catches it in his mouth, the asshole, and Auston can’t fight the wry smile that forms without his permission. Auston pops a grape in his mouth and chews slowly.

“So you met Mitch,” Willy says. “He’s like, the guy around here.”

“The guy?” Auston repeats and steals another grape. He’s kind of hungry and he didn’t bring anything to eat since he’s just gonna go straight home after this, raid his refrigerator and crash for the afternoon.

“The main guy,” Willy confirms. “He’d be like, the head elf if this was the North Pole.”

Auston stares at him. “Willy,” he says solemnly. “You know Santa isn’t real, right?”

“He’s real if you believe in him,” Willy says, and then he taps his chest, right over his heart, the weirdo. “And I believe in him right here.”

“You’re such a loser,” Auston tells him.

Willy just grins and chews on another grape.

*

Auston slumps down on his chair, full of regret and nursing a wicked hangover. He’d gone home after work yesterday, fully intending to sleep for the rest of the day and maybe crack open a few books, but Eichs had messaged him about a party and Auston made the terrible decision to go for a few hours and have just the one drink.

One drink had turned into at least ten, and Auston had stumbled into bed somewhere around 4am.

The door to the grotto opens and Auston groans, throwing up his hand to block the light coming in.

“Oh wow.”

Auston spreads his fingers and peers through them. Mitch is staring at him, his eyebrows raised and a cup of something steaming in his hands.

“Shhh,” Auston pleads. He’s so, so full of regret.

He feels something being pushed into his hands and he takes it, sighing when he realizes it’s Mitch’s coffee. “Looks like you need this more than me this morning,” Mitch says.

“Thanks man,” Auston mumbles and takes a sip.

Then he coughs and almost spits it back out all over his fake beard. “Oh my god, how much sugar is in this?”

“Three spoonfuls,” Mitch says cheerfully. “And vanilla syrup.”

“Oh man, that’s so gross,” Auston says but he takes another sip, more careful this time. He’s expecting the rush of sweetness this time round and it’s less of a shock to his system. It’s still disgusting though. “How the hell do you drink this shit?”

Mitch shrugs, setting off the bell on his hat, which is sitting far too jauntily on his head for 8am on a Saturday morning. “I like sweet things,” he says, and then he winks at Auston and closes the door behind him.

Auston stares at the closed door. He wasn’t inferring that Auston was - no, he couldn’t have been. No way. Auston is not sweet.

“First kid’s gonna come through in about three minutes,” Mitch says, popping his head around the door. “Better lose the coffee.”

Auston makes a face at him and downs the rest of the sugary sweet disaster that is Mitch’s drink of choice. He almost gags, but by the time the kid walks in with his parents, he does actually feel mildly better. He even manages a small smile for Mitch, who grins back at him.

*

The thing is, Auston thinks he and Mitch could be buddies. Mitch is way too happy all the time and Auston finds that completely exhausting, but it’s actually kind of helpful while they’re working. And Mitch talks. Constantly. He never seems to run out of things to say, which Auston found annoying at first but he’s gotten used to it over their eight hour shift. Mitch fills any and every silence, and yet he shuts up the second Auston starts to talk. And he’s got this weird, wide mouth that Auston can’t stop staring at. It’s huge.

Over the course of their first Saturday shift together, Auston learns that Mitch is from Toronto, he lives with his parents and his brother while he goes to U of T, that he studies some business course - “I wanted to be a lawyer but that shit is hard,” Mitch had told him, leaning against Auston’s chair while they’d taken a quick break between kids. “Like, do you know how hard that shit is? I transferred halfway through my first semester because there was no way I was gonna graduate otherwise.” - and his phone is constantly vibrating with messages. Auston’s a popular guy so he knows what it’s like to constantly get notifications, but even he doesn’t get anywhere near the number of alerts that Mitch gets. During their first proper break, Mitch is glued to his phone, keeping up a constant stream of chatter with Kappy and Willy as his fingers type out message after message. He hasn’t looked up once.

“Sorry,” Mitch says as they make their way back to the grotto. He’s still typing. “Dylan gets super needy when he’s left to his own devices for too long and Davo’s out of town visiting his girlfriend. Mo’s having some crisis over his roommate and Marty, well, he just misses me when I’m not around.”

“Right,” Auston says. He has no idea who any of these people are but they’ve still got another four hours to work together. He’ll probably know their entire life stories by the time he leaves the store tonight.

So anyway. He thinks they could be friends. There’s just one problem.

“We’ve still got another few minutes before the next kid is due,” Mitch says when Auston takes his seat. “Wanna take me for a ride on your sleigh?” he asks and waggles his eyebrows suggestively.

Before Auston can even react, Mitch is out through the door where the kids usually enter.

And that’s the problem. Because Mitch doesn’t even know what Auston looks like, so he’s pretty sure it’s just a thing Mitch does with people. It’s annoying, Auston thinks as he drums his fingers against the armrest of his chair. He doesn’t understand what Mitch is doing, like, at all.

Like a fucking whirlwind, Mitch is back again, this time with a little girl and boy in tow, their faces mutinous like they’ve just been yelled at by a parent. Auston feels for them because he’s been there so many times before.

“Ho, ho, ho,” Auston says cheerfully, putting Mitch the Elf and his weird flirting to one side. “And who do we have here?”

The kids glare at him.

“Uh, this is Anna and she’d like a skateboard for Christmas,” Mitch says, crouching down to ruffle her hair and pull a funny face at her.

Auston sees her mouth twitch like she wants to smile.

“And this is James,” Mitch says. “He’s ten and he’s too old for skateboards. He’d like a Blue Jays jersey.”

“Oh,” Auston says and leans forward. “Who’s your favorite player?”

The kid grins back at him and starts talking, while Mitch distracts his sister by trying to convince her that she might prefer ice skates instead. Auston watches him for a moment, animated in his attempt to sway her opinion, before he turns his full attention back to James.

“I’ll see what my elves and I can do,” Auston promises him. Then he looks back over towards Mitch, who gives him a thumbs up and Auston smiles, despite himself.

*

Wednesday afternoon comes around way too quickly, and Auston trudges into the break room in his stupid Santa suit five minutes before he’s due to start his shift. He sees Willy first and offers a half-hearted wave as he grabs a mug and pours himself a coffee from the warming pot. When he turns back around, Mitch is standing right in front of him, a huge grin on his face.

Auston blinks at him a couple of times but Mitch doesn’t move.

“Yes?” he asks finally. He’s not hungover today, exactly, but he’s maybe finals-hungover.

“Tough few days, eh?” Mitch asks, sounding so Canadian that Auston’s head hurts a little just listening to him.

Auston shrugs. “Finals,” is all he says but Mitch nods sympathetically.

“Wednesdays are one of our slowest days,” Mitch tells him. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and find ourselves killing time between visitors.”

Auston wonders how many flirty puns Mitch could fit into one slow afternoon. Quite a lot, he decides as he watches Mitch rock up and down on his heels. Auston’s discovered that Mitch is one of those people who are never completely still. It’s kind of exhausting to watch.

“Fingers crossed,” he says dryly and tries to move past Mitch, but apparently Mitch has decided that they’re going to be joined at the hip or something because he follows Auston all the way to the grotto, giving him a running commentary on everything he’s been up to since Saturday. Auston’s a big fan of chilling and not doing much at all - the most energy he expends in a day is a 3k morning run if he’s not hungover, due in class or he can find any other excuse not to go. Listening to Mitch is almost as tiring as watching him.

“Your friend Dylan sounds like an asshole,” Auston says when Mitch eventually stops talking. It kind of slips out without warning.

A long, painful silent moment stretches out between them before Mitch collapses into giggles. Like, he’s bending over, his hands on his knees, and gasping for breath between his weird high-pitched snorting laughter. “Oh man, I know, right? He’s the biggest drama queen but I don’t know. He’s my best friend and he’s a really good dude, when he stops being, you know, a needy asshole.”

“Sure,” Auston says, because he doesn’t really know how he’s supposed to respond to that. Mitch constantly talks to him like he’s supposed to know Mitch’s friends in as intimate detail as Mitch clearly does and it’s confusing as hell.

Mitch glances at the clock hanging on the wall. “I guess it’s time to let the first kid in,” he says. He’s got a hand on the door when he turns to look at Auston, and he’s got that look in his eye that Auston’s already learned to be wary of. “I guess complaining about my best friend puts me on your naughty list, Santa.”

Auston sighs quietly. “I guess?” he says, trying to hide his disappointment in Mitch’s dedication to bad Christmas puns.

Mitch beams at him. “I’ll try to think of something to make sure I get bumped over to the nice list.” He’s halfway out the door when he turns to look over his shoulder.. “I can be really, really nice,” he adds, and then he fucking licks his lips and practically skips out of the door. Again.

Auston feels like all the blood has rushed out of his head and he’s beyond frustrated with Mitch the fucking Elf. He’s just not entirely sure whether it’s the kind of frustration borne of annoyance, or the frustration that comes from the sudden realization that Mitch the Elf is kind of hot and his dumb pick-up lines might actually be starting to work.

*

“Yo, you gotta head home or do you wanna come with me to do my Christmas shopping?” Mitch asks at the end of their last shift together before Christmas.

“It’s two days before Christmas,” Auston points out. “You haven’t finished your gift shopping yet?”

“Dude, I haven’t even started it,” Mitch says cheerfully and takes off his hat. His hair is kind of a mess and Mitch reaches up a hand to pat at it, which only makes it worse. “Last minute gift buying is an art.”

“Wow,” Auston says and starts to strip off his velvet trousers and coat. He’s basically wearing running tights underneath because anything else is too hot to wear under the suit. Mitch is definitely staring at him and for the first time, he feels a little self-conscious. “Shut up, the suit is itchy,” he says and tugs on a pair of sweats. December in Toronto is the worst for a kid used to the Scottsdale climate. He takes off his beard and pulls on a thick, cream cable-knit sweater over his white t-shirt and grabs his jacket and leaves his suit on the side for someone else to collect. “Alright, let's go shopping.”

Mitch leads him into the mens department and Auston raises an eyebrow. “You’re doing your shopping here?” he asks. “Where we work?”

“Employee discount,” Mitch says with a shrug. “I’m a poor student and my parents expect very little from me, so it’s a win-win.”

“Oh my god,” Auston huffs out a reluctant laugh, shaking his head. “Don’t be such a scrooge. It’s Christmas and your parents have suffered enough with a dumbass son.”

“Two dumbass sons,” Mitch corrects him with a cheery grin.

So Auston trails around after Mitch, offering the odd comment here and there when Mitch asks him for an opinion, but mostly picking up anything that catches his eye, like an electric blue shirt that would look killer on him, if his bank account wasn’t empty.

He’d be a fashion god if he had any money whatsoever, he muses as he tries on a purple peacoat and pulls some awesome model poses in one of the department’s full length mirrors.

“Awesome,” Mitch calls from where he’s leaning over a counter, looking at wallets or something for his brother. “Color looks amazing on you.”

Auston flashes him a grin, turns back to the mirror and freezes when a thought hits him out of the blue. Today’s the first day Mitch has seen him out of his Santa suit and Mitch hadn’t even given him a second glance. Auston looks back over at Mitch, who’s got his tongue sticking out as he concentrates on choosing his gift, and god, he looks so dumb.

Auston’s totally staring at his mouth again but whatever. Mitch isn’t looking back so it’s not like he’s been caught, and anyway it’s not his fault that Mitch is obsessed with drawing attention to his own mouth, intentional or not.

His heart beating a little faster, Auston turns back to the mirror, slips the coat off his shoulders and carefully puts it back on the rack. Then he saunters over to Mitch, frowns at the two wallets Mitch is musing over and picks up the tan leather with extra card space. “This one for sure,” he says before he wanders over to the shoe department.

He’s looking at a pair of Off-Whites when Mitch finally comes over, four bags in hand and a pleased, infectious grin on his face. “All done,” he declares. “Sure you don’t need to pick up any last minute gifts?”

“Nope,” Auston says and ignores the tiny pang in his chest that reminds him how alone he’s going to be on Christmas Day. “Sent everything home weeks ago.”

“Home?” Mitch prods as they make their way through the store towards the exit.

“Scottsdale, Arizona,” Auston says, surprised that it hasn’t come up before. Mitch definitely knows he’s an American, his accent would give him away if nothing else, but he’d assumed that he’d talked about home before at some point. They’ve spent enough time together now that Auston feels a little weird that Mitch doesn’t even know the most basic things about him, especially since they’re essentially going to be going their separate ways after today. “I went home for Thanksgiving. Going back for Christmas too seemed like a waste of money.”

“Right, yeah,” Mitch agrees. Auston can feel Mitch’s eyes on him but he keeps his gaze ahead, maneuvering around the crush of last-minute shoppers as they near the exit doors. “Hey, how are you getting home?”

Auston shoves his coat on and steps out into the freezing Toronto night. “Bus,” he says and pulls on his gloves.

“I can drive you home if you want,” Mitch offers. He’s pulling on a hat - no bell this time - and wrapping a long, thick knitted scarf around his neck. He looks cozy and warm while Auston feels like a sheet of ice already, but Mitch is a native, he supposes. He’s probably used to feeling like fucking death every winter. “I’m parked around the back.”

“Must be nice to be able to afford a car,” Auston says snarkily but he nods and follows Mitch as he weaves past shoppers with ease. They’re soon in Mitch’s car with the heaters on full blast, and Auston immediately starts fiddling with the radio because Mitch has it tuned to some god awful country station and Auston appreciates the ride but he’s not been in Toronto long enough to enjoy listening to country.

“Perks of living at home,” Mitch tells him. “You wanna give me an address or should I just guess?”

Auston gives it to him and Mitch hums in recognition. “So this is our last ride, eh?”

“Also technically our first,” Auston agrees, rolling his eyes at Mitch’s outstretched fist but he bumps it with his own anyway.

“Well, I’m gonna miss seeing you at work,” Mitch says in the earnest way he does sometimes. It always throws Auston off-balance when he does it, mostly because he’s not expecting it but also because Auston doesn’t know anyone else who’s as honest with their emotions as Mitch is. It’s disconcerting, but Auston kind of likes it.

“Me too,” Auston says honestly, because Mitch tends to draw it out of him. He’d never tell Eichs or Zach that he was going to miss them and if he ever did, they’d never let him hear the end of it. Mitch, on the other hand, just smiles at him and then changes the subject to Strome’s latest drama.

Auston grins and settles back in his seat to listen, because Mitch’s daily disaster reports on his besties have easily become something Auston looks forward to and the traffic is bad enough that Mitch has plenty of time to tell him every single detail about Stromer and Davo almost burning down their kitchen thanks to some popcorn and a second-hand microwave.

*

Mitch pulls up outside Auston’s place and makes a grab for Auston’s phone, which was balancing on his knee and is now in Mitch’s hands. “Passcode?” Mitch asks, somewhat hopefully. Auston scoffs and takes his phone back, unlocking it and bringing up his address book before he lets Mitch take it again. He keeps a watchful eye as Mitch types in his phone number under Mitch the Elf with a christmas tree on either side of his name, like Auston won’t remember who he is otherwise. It’s kind of adorable.

Mitch calls himself then hangs up and takes out his own phone, like he wants to check the call came through, grinning happily when he sees the number flash up. “Hope you’re ready for me to blow up your phone,” Mitch says. “You can’t get rid of me now.”

“I guess an elf isn’t just for Christmas,” Auston says, which makes Mitch giggle loudly,

“Nope, you’ve got me all year round now,” Mitch promises. “Now get out of here, I’ve got to badly wrap these presents tonight because I’m working all day tomorrow.”

Auston had very deliberately opted out of working Christmas Eve for both his sanity and his freedom, but he still feels a little pang of regret that he’s not going to see Mitch at work anymore. “Well have fun with that,” he says, bracing himself for the cold outside. “I’m going to sleep for the next three days solid.”

Mitch pulls a face, like Auston’s plan doesn’t sound like the best idea ever, even though it totally is. “Well, have a good one I guess,” he says, not sounding sure at all.

“I will,” Auston says brightly and leans over to pull Mitch’s hat down over his eyes, grinning when Mitch smacks his hand away. “Merry Christmas, Mitch the Elf.”

“Merry Christmas, Auston Claus,” Mitch parrots back.

“Oh my god,” Auston groans. “You better not put me in your phone as that.”

Mitch cackles loudly and Auston finally opens the door and climbs out, the cold weather burning his face almost instantly. He’s too busy hurrying inside to wave Mitch goodbye, and he hears the car pull away slowly as he puts his key in the door.

By the time he’s got inside, taken off his coat and boots and made dinner, his phone is alight with messages from Mitch. Auston grins and starts to read.

*

Auston grumbles a little when his doorbell goes halfway through Die Hard. It’s mid-afternoon, it’s Christmas, and Auston’s got three more movies queued up to watch. Who the fuck knocks on someone’s door on Christmas Day, uninvited?

He opens the door to find Mitch grinning at him from under his Leafs torque, a matching Leafs scarf wrapped around his neck and a huge coat that makes him look three times bigger than he actually is.

“Big Leafs fan?” Auston asks dryly as he steps back and lets Mitch hurry inside.

“Fuck, it’s cold,” Mitch says.

“No kidding.” Auston stares at him. “Mitch? What are you doing here?”

“You didn’t think I’d let you spend Christmas all alone, did you?” Mitch pulls a present out of his pocket - it’s probably a candy bar based on its size and weight and Auston just stares at him in disbelief. Mitch’s smile starts to die away as Auston stays silent. “Uh, I mean, I can go-”

Auston kisses him. He just - leans right in and kisses him. He ends up with one hand wrapped in Mitch’s stupid scarf and the other cupping his cheek - his skin is ice freaking cold - and he kisses him until Mitch goes all soft and stupid in his arms.

“I mean, if you don’t like the Leafs, we probably shouldn’t be making out,” Mitch says against Auston’s lips.

“The Leafs suck,” Auston mumbles and kisses him again. He knew Mitch’s mouth was going to get him in trouble.

“They do not,” Mitch says, pulling back far enough this time to stare at Auston in horror. “You’re not a Yotes fan, right?”

Auston grins at him.

“Oh my god,” MItch says breathlessly. He stares at Auston for a moment, clearly suffering through some kind of internal battle when he starts to shrug out of his coat and kicks his boots off. “We’re going to go make out until I forget that you have the worst taste in hockey teams,” Mitch says, grabbing Auston’s hand and marching over to the couch. He shoves Auston down and crawls on top of him, straddling Auston’s thighs and sighing when Auston’s hands find themselves on Mitch’s hips, his thumbs skimming under Mitch’s hoodie to find smooth, cool skin. “You’re lucky you’re so pretty,” Mitch says and nips at his bottom lip.

It’s at least half an hour later, when Mitch’s hoodie has been flung over the back of the couch and Auston’s hair is definitely a complete mess, when Auston comes up for air. “So all those dumb pick up lines,” he says.

“Can you blame me?” Mitch asks, like that’s meant to make any sense at all. He’s trying to not-so-subtly divest Auston of his Christmas sweater so he obliges, stupidly pleased when Mitch finally gets it off him and just sits back against Auston’s knees and stares at him. “Seriously? That’s so unfair.”

Auston laughs and resists the urge to preen. “I looked like a weird old dude with a beard in a crushed red velvet suit,” he says. “There’s no way you found that hot, but if you did, then we probably need to talk about your Santa Claus kink.”

Mitch gives him a considering look. “So, what you’re saying is that Santa roleplay isn’t off the table,” he says thoughtfully. “Interesting.”

Auston raises an eyebrow and pictures Mitch very clearly in his stupid elf costume. “I’d think about it,” he says offhandedly and kisses Mitch again.

“But seriously, dude, I knew who you were, you fucking nerd,” Mitch says, to Auston’s surprise. “Everyone on campus knows who you are. Which was super helpful when I needed to find out which apartment was yours. I asked Davo, who knows Jonesy, who knows your buddy Zach.”

Auston looks at him in surprise. “You knew who I was.”

“Obviously,” Mitch rolls his eyes. “I brought leftovers, by the way. If you’re hungry.”

“I could eat,” he says, drawing Mitch in for another kiss before he flips them both, Mitch landing underneath him on the couch and staring up at him half in surprise and half in awe. “Later.”

“Oh my god you’re strong,” Mitch says and runs his hands up Auston’s back. “I've been a really good boy this year, Santa. You should you know, give me a present.”

Auston groans and closes his eyes. "That's not sexy," he half-lies. Unfortunately, he's really, really into Mitch and apparently that includes his terrible puns. "Please stop talking."

"Make me," Mitch dares him.

Well, Auston loves a challenge.


End file.
